Schoolgirl Secrets

Chapter Ten: Run Away!

"My name, as you very well know, is Rupert Smith," he said. "And I have recently escaped from my life sentence in the prison of England."

Miss Brightlight gasped and quietly applauded girlishly.

"I was imprisoned," said Smith, slowly starting to smile. "Because I killed eighty people last year by using my new, and lethal drug I have just invented here in my wonderful drug factory."

"And what does this drug do?" said Jane.

"It kills people," said Smith. "As you are about to find out."

Jenifer started to sweat again. She had to do something, fast.

The criminal in the room opened the box he was holding and lifted out the longest syringe Jenifer had ever seen. He also took out a corked test tube, half full of clear liquid with tiny air bubbles in. Smith uncorked the tube and loaded the syringe until it was full. Then he replaced the now empty tube in the box and set it down upon a shelf. Now he proceeded to walk towards Jane who started thrashing in Mr. Maple's arms again. One of the men in white suits reached out and picked up the coil of rope. He and his fellows tied a screaming Jane tightly to the spotlessly clean white table where she lay, struggling hopelessly flat on her back watching the needle draw closer. Jenifer's brain was in lockdown. She simply couldn't think of a way to rescue Jane. The needle was five inches from Jane's chest now and coming closer. Jenifer wracked her brains for a plan, but no such plan came. Three inches now. Her head was hurting from all the thinking and she could almost hear all the cogs whirring and steaming inside her in vain. Half an inch.

Suddenly a streak of inspiration hit Jenifer and, just as the needle was two centimetres from Jane, she started to untie her shoelace frantically. Half a centimetre now. A quarter of a centimetre. Jenifer hurled the shoe with all her strength at Smith's face. It missed, but knocked the syringe out of his hand and onto the floor. Jenifer jumped. She fell through cold, damp air and landed catlike on the polished floor. Leaping to her feet she sprinted forwards and punched a security man hard in the face. He toppled over, clutching his bleeding nose and fell onto another guard knocking him to the ground as well. Jenifer kept running until she crashed headlong into the third and last man in white and slammed him hard into the wall, knocking him out completely. Now only Smith, Mr. Maple and Miss Brightlight stood in her way. She skidded to a halt and stared at the three people standing around Jane, who all looked slightly perplexed. Jenifer picked up here shoe from the floor and tied it clumsily back onto her foot. Then she straightened up and looked into Miss Brightlight's face. She was wearing a satisfied smirk.

"I knew you'd be here too, along with this idiot," she said, gesturing at Jane still chained to the table.

"Well I wouldn't leave without her would I?" said Jenifer, walking slowly around Jane to the spot where the still loaded syringe lay.

"No of course not," said Miss Brightlight sarcastically. "But what were you doing here in the first place?"

"I don't think that's really any of your business," Jenifer said coolly, raising her foot above the needle.

Smith suddenly noticed what Jenifer was about to do. He made a lunge with his hands and screamed,

"No!"

But too late! Jenifer stamped her foot hard down onto the syringe and smashed it. Clear liquid ran all over the floor and glass shot in every direction. Mr. Maple ran as fast as he could to the other side of the room to avoid it. Miss Brightlight followed. And Smith got a shard of glass directly in his left eye. He yelled and tried to yank it out.

"Quick! Now's our chance!" Jenifer exclaimed.

She rushed to the table, cut through the ropes with a piece of shattered glass and pulled Jane to her feet.

"Run!" she bellowed.

And the two girls sprinted towards a door. Everyone was too distracted to follow them. Mr. Maple and Miss Brightlight were now trying to help Smith get the splinter out of his eyeball. Jane threw open the door and led the way down a long corridor.

"Where are we going to go?" panted Jenifer.

"Anywhere's better than here!" replied Jane. "Come on, this way."

They ran and they ran. Opening random doors and leaping down staircases until they reached the main exit and dashed out into bright sunlight. They did not stop however, but sped up and continued to sprint until they were as far away from the old building as they could go.

Finally, they stopped and pushed their way into a clump of bushes to talk in secret.

"What shall we do now?" said Jenifer.

"I don't know," said Jane, biting her lip. "But one thing's certain isn't it."

"What?" asked Jenifer.

"Your sister!" said Jane urgently. "Think about it! Three testers dead, one tester on the run from death and another one who hasn't been captured yet. But that's a big yet Jenifer."

Suddenly Jenifer understood.

"You mean we've got to get my sister into hiding?" she said. "How on earth are we going to manage that?"

"I don't know," said Jane looking puzzled. "But we've got to try, haven't we..."

Silence fell between them and they listened.

"Nothing coming," said Jenifer. "So let's get back home and fetch Miriam."

****

After a long walk back to Jenifer's house the two girls separated. Jane sat down on a low garden wall and Jenifer went back into the house.

"Hi! You're home early!" called Mary from the kitchen. "Miriam's not back from school yet."

"Um," said Jenifer, thinking. "George gave me a lift in his dad's new Ferrari."

"Ooh," said Mary, adapting a cheeky grin.

Jenifer went upstairs and changed her clothes. Five minutes later; the front door opened and Miriam skipped inside. Jenifer could hear her chattering girlishly to her mother downstairs and groaned at the prospect of taking her away that night to escape in secret. Suddenly Jenifer's pocket started buzzing again. She took out her Nintendo DS and read the latest message from Jane:

TONIGHT

MIDNIGHT

WITH MIRIAM

OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE

MEET ME

I HAVE A PLAN